Notorious car thieves busted

Notorious car thieves busted

JAKARTA (JP): City Police detectives have arrested two groups
of car thieves earlier this month at separate locations,
including the notorious gang known for always killing their
victims after robbing them, spokesman Supt. M. Nur H. Usman said
on Wednesday.

Nur said the vicious group, which consisted of three men aged
between 22 and 27 years old, operated by drowning their victims
after pretending to rent their cars.

"These people admitted to having committed the crimes twice.
They also admitted to having killed the driver of a car they
rented in Semarang on Sept. 12," Nur said at a media conference
at the Jakarta Police Headquarters.

He said the group, which was led by its youngest member
Hendrawan, forced the driver to stop as he was driving to Pati in
Central Java.

"They then strangled the driver, handcuffed him, beat him up,
and drowned him in a nearby river.

"The body was found floating in the river on Sept. 14," Nur
said.

The spokesman said another victim, 29-year-old Mirza, a
resident of the Kampung Rambutan area of East Jakarta, managed to
escape after the handcuffs, which were placed over his hands,
mysteriously opened.

Mirza, who attended the media conference, said his car was
rented by the group on Aug. 7. The group asked him to take them
to the MCM karaoke bar in West Jakarta.

"They then asked me to take them to Teluk Gong (in North
Jakarta) at about midnight, but in the middle of the trip they
told me to stop and suddenly beat me up. They handcuffed me and
strangled me until I fell unconscious," Mirza told reporters.

"The next thing I knew I was drowning in the river, but the
handcuffs mysteriously came loose, enabling me to swim to the
surface," Mirza said.

"I succeeded to climb up to the nearest freeway and tried to
stop some cars to get help, but nobody seemed to care. So, I
tried to walk to the nearest entrance gate of the freeway and the
people there then took me to the Atmajaya Hospital (in North
Jakarta)," he added.

Gang leader Hendrawan said that he bought the handcuffs at the
Senen market in Central Jakarta for Rp 40,000 a pair.

Nur said that Hendrawan and the other two gang members, namely
Amir, 25, and Triyono, 27, were arrested at two separate
locations in North Jakarta on Sept. 13 and Sept. 14.

Police also confiscated two Kijang vans from the group, Nur
added.

"They tried to sell one of the Kijang vans to our (undercover)
officers," Nur said, adding that the group had tried to sell the
1997 car for Rp 15 million.

Police also arrested Supardi, 34, a member of an auto theft
group which usually operates by stealing cars that have been left
momentarily with the engine running.

"Many people turn on their cars in the morning to heat up the
engine and go back into the house," Nur said. "That's when the
group springs into action."

The car thief was arrested on Sept. 6 in the Pejompongan area
of Central Jakarta, while the other group members were still at
large, Nur added. (jaw)